Director

From the Director: May at Wildflower

05/04/2024

This month our worship services explore the topic of CELEBRATION. 

Celebrations are important because they give us opportunities to:

  • Appreciate ourselves
  • Appreciate those in our lives and in our community
  • Take note of how far we’ve come
  • Make memories
  • Reflect
  • Be present
  • Inspire others
  • Find community
  • Mark the passage of time

Join us for our upcoming Sunday worship services held at 11:45 am (Zoom link is available on our website’s home page) and other community gatherings in May.

  • Sunday, May 5th, 11:45 am, (hybrid): “Joy of Joy.” Wildflower’s mission is growing spiritually together, spreading love, justice, and joy! Join us as we celebrate World Laughter Day with Laughter Yoga and other joy practices. We will also celebrate welcoming our newest members of the congregation. Stay afterwards for our popcorn social in the Community Room. (Speaker: Simone Monique Barnes)
  • Wednesday, May 8th, 7 pm (on Zoom and Livestream) DRUUM Public Worship Service, “Choosing Joy! Living with Intentionality and Purpose.” Discover how a joyful heart can be your sanctuary, even when spirits are tested. A celebration of resilience, purpose, and the healing power of joy. (Guest Preacher: Rev Ali K.C. Bell, Director of Music: Saunder Choi, Liturgist: Rev. Carol Thomas Cissel.) Wildflower is one of the sponsoring congregations of this public worship of DRUUM (Diverse & Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries). For the Zoom link or Livestream, RSVP on DRUUM’s website https://www.druumm.org/events/
  • Sunday, May 12th, 11:45 am (on Zoom): “Celebrating Transformation on the Path” On this day, we look to Buddhist teachings and practices as a source of inspiration and celebration, as many Buddhists observe Buddha’s Birthday (also known as Vesak or Wesak) this month (Speaker: Sarah Riehl)
  • Sunday, May 19th, 11:45 am (hybrid): Milestone Sunday! On this day we gather together to celebrate the many milestones of our community, such as graduations, recipients of our scholarship program with Travis ECHS, career milestones, and much more. Want to share a milestone with the congregation? Complete this form. (Speaker: Simone Monique Barnes and others). Stay afterwards for our potluck (and bring your favorite dish, entree, or snack to share)
  • Sunday, May 26th, 11:45 am (hybrid): We celebrate joy with our guest preacher of the day, Rev. Krista Weber Huang

During our social hour after services on the 1st and 3rd Sundays in the Community Room, look for our new table talk conversation starters prompts, to help spark meaningful conversations on the theme of the day.

And, speaking of celebrating our community, our 2nd offerings this season will focus on deepening our connection and relationships with the youth, educators, and families of our neighborhood and the Travis ECHS community.

We will also have a special offering for DRUUM (Diverse & Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries), which we support as a congregation, which aids in their good work, public worship, and much needed good trouble in our world.

Lots to celebrate!

In closing, the vibrations are still resonating from last month’s service celebrating the music and message of Prince, which was so rich with the diverse gifts of the congregation and the community, with LOVE being our master plan (love, not dogma, policies, politics, nor anything else that divides us; only love), and amplified by the many other iterations of love that we uplifted in April, I leave you with these simple, yet wise words of the Purple One:

“Instead of hate, celebrate.”

Prince

In joyful celebration,

~ Simone

Simone Monique Barnes
Director of Membership and Spiritual Life
Wildflower UU Church, Austin TX

Milestone Sunday, May 19th, 11:45 am

05/02/2024

Congratulations on your achievements! From infants to adults, we want to celebrate you! Our Milestone Sunday Service will be held Sunday, May 19th, 2024, at 11:45 am.

Please let us know about important milestones for which we should recognize you or someone else.

We want to celebrate your graduations, moving up ceremonies, retirements, awards, and more. Please submit this form by Sunday, May 12, 2024.

(Note: During this service we will also recognize our three Travis ECHS scholarship recipients!)

New Member Ceremony, Sunday, May 5th

04/26/2024

Wildflower will be welcoming our newest church members on Sunday, May 5, during the 11:45 am CT worship service!

Are you interested in becoming a member? We’d love to support you in your journey and pathway to membership. Questions? Let us know at membership@wildflowerchurch.org

(For those who complete their new members orientation after May 5th, our next New Member Ceremony will occur in the fall/winter 2024.)

Laughter Yoga on Sunday, May 5th

04/25/2024

Fatigue, exhaustion, expenses, the “news,” car trouble, isolation, stress—where’s the joy in that! Do we ever get a break? Yes!

Join Simone, as we celebrate World Laughter Day, at Wildflower UU Church, 1314 Oltorf St, Austin TX 78704, on Sunday, May 5, 2pm, with Laughter Yoga, a fun, interactive, accessible session for all bodies that offers tools for finding joy, joy that isn’t reliant on our current circumstances.

(RSVP so that we reserve enough space for you and your guests.)

Laughter Yoga is a scientifically based body-mind practice that began almost thirty years ago in Mumbai, India, that unites unconditional laughter and deep yogic breathing. Through group laughter exercises, meditation, and deep relaxation, participants will bring more oxygen to their bodies and brains, and connect with other people in a heartfelt way without relying on language, or jokes, or even a sense of humor.

Participants will leave with a few techniques they can begin using immediately to feel energetic, more relaxed, connected to others in a safe and meaningful way, and able to transform frustrations into happy, endorphin-filled meditative experiences through Laughter Yoga.

Wear clothes that you can move in and that don’t restrict your abdomen. NO YOGA MATS NEEDED. Wheel Friendly class. All ages and all abilities welcome.

This Laughter Yoga session is FREE and open to the public, and will be held IN PERSON at
Wildflower UU Church
1314 Oltorf St
Austin TX 78704

RSVP here

“It is often necessary to laugh in order to survive.”

–Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

“It is cheerful to God when you laugh or rejoice from the bottom of your heart.”

–Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

ABOUT SIMONE

Simone Monique Barnes, Wildflower’s Director of Membership and Spiritual Life, is a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader.

Trained by the founder of Laughter Yoga, Dr. Madan Kataria, Simone regularly incorporates joy practices into her daily life and ministry.

She teaches Laughter Yoga, knowing that a smile is the shortest distance between two people, and that joy practices sustain us in hard times.

2nd Offering recipient: Travis Early College High School

04/18/2024

As we continue our April worship theme of love, loving our neighbors is another way of living out our mission and values.

This quarter (April, May, and June 2024) we are focusing our outreach and donations on our closest neighbor, Travis Early College High School. You are invited to learn more about Travis ECHS at this link: Travis Early College High School | Austin ISD  

On any given day, as you move along our church campus grounds, you’ll note that our congregation serves as one of the unofficial chaplains of the neighborhood, and our courtyard is often a place of respite and connection for many Travis ECHS youth. Our offerings will support deepening our relationship with the school community.

The 2nd offering team has worked to identify a range of needs to help the students and the teachers have their basic resources for effective learning. These range from school supplies to tablet chargers. Our offering will be used to fund these types of needs.

The objectives of our Second Offerings is to deepen our understanding and work with the chosen nonprofit recipient, and to highlight the good work happening in the community outside of our church walls.

Throughout the quarter we will highlight other ways we can engage with our neighbor Travis Early College High School, including teacher/staff appreciation.

From the Director: April at Wildflower

04/05/2024

A box multiple color pastel crayons and a red heart drawn by a red pastel crayon on a white piece of paper

This month our worship services explore the topic of LOVE. 

Love for ourselves, love for our friends, love for our animals, love for our family, love for our community, love for the earth. It’s all about love.

Join us for our upcoming Sunday worship services held at 11:45 am (Zoom link is available on our website’s home page):

  • April 7 (hybrid): “I am Loved.” Interreligious readings and musical reflections on love, including excerpts from the poem “You Are Who I Love” by Aracelis Girmay, and the song “Love My Life” by Robbie Williams.  We’ll also read and be inspired by the picture book I love you because I love you by Muon Thi Van. (Speakers: Simone and lay leaders). Stay afterwards for our popcorn social in the Community Room. 
  • April 14 (on Zoom): “A Sampling of Love.” In this lay-led service, we’ll hear from three different Wildflowers who will share their perspectives on different types of love and how that love has transformed them. (Speakers: Lay Led)
  • April 21st (hybrid): The Prince Mass: “Love is the Master Plan“ a worship service inspired by the music and message of Prince (Speaker: Simone. Special music by Goldie Pipes). Purple or Prince inspired outfits are encouraged. Stay afterwards for our festive potluck social in the Community Room.
  • April 28th (hybrid): “Love Poems for the Earth,” as we celebrate Earth Day and National Poetry Month (Speakers: Lay Led – Wild Earth Team)

During our social hour after services on the 1st and 3rd Sundays in the Community Room, look for our new table talk conversation starters prompts, to help spark meaningful conversations on the theme of the day.

Speaking of love, the covenant workshop is on Saturday, April 13, with in-person and virtual attendance options. (You may register here.) A “Covenant” is Latin for “come together” and means a “solemn agreement” or “promise from the heart.” Our covenant is one way for us to think about what Love-in-Action is and could be in our Wildflower community. Be a part of the discussion as we begin the first steps in the process of reviewing, reimagining, and rewriting our Wildflower covenant.

And, speaking of love-in-action, our 2nd offerings this season will focus on deepening our connection and relationships with the youth, educators, and families of our neighborhood and the Travis ECHS community.

And, wonderful news: our Wildflower High School Scholarship Program will reopen this spring, offering 3 scholarships for $2,000 each. (Eligibility: Travis ECHS students who are Dreamers, Refugees, or Asylum Seekers. Applications will be made available through the high school.)

Lots of love!

In closing, I leave you with the wise words of the activist Mel King:

“I believe that change is inevitable and possible. And that love is the question and the answer.
As long as there are folks who understand the power of love, I’m definitely optimistic.”

Mel King

Love,

~ Simone

Simone Monique Barnes
Director of Membership and Spiritual Life
Wildflower UU Church, Austin TX